Method and apparatus for encryption of over-the-air communications in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A communication device converts a bit stream to multiple symbols and provides encryption at a physical layer by shifting a phase of each symbol of the multiple symbols to produce multiple encrypted symbols. Each encrypted symbol of the multiple encrypted symbols is modulated with an orthogonal subcarrier to produce at least one modulated subcarrier and the at least one modulated subcarrier is then transmitted via a wireless link. On a receive side, a receiving communication device receives the transmitted, encrypted symbols and provides decryption at a physical layer by shifting a phase of each encrypted symbol in correspondence with the phase used to encrypt the symbol at the transmit side.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority from provisional application Ser. No.60/612,596, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ENCRYPTION OFOVER-THE-AIR COMMUNICATIONS IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” filedSep. 23, 2004, which is commonly owned and incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. In addition, this application is related toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/947,724, filed on Sep. 23, 2004, andU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/209,058, filed on Aug. 8, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to wireless communicationsystems, and more specifically to encryption of over-the-aircommunications in a wireless communication system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a typical wireless communication system, a session key is distributedamong the transmitting and receiving communication devices when acommunication session is set up. The session key is then used by thetransmitting communication to perform Layer 2 or Layer 3 encryption ondata transmitted over-the-air. No physical layer, that is, Layer 1,encryption is performed, that is, there is no encryption of themodulated waveform. In addition, typically only the user data isencrypted and not the pilot symbols and synchronization symbols, whichsymbols must be used as a reference for timing synchronization andfading recovery.

The performance of Layer 2 or Layer 3 encryption leaves the datavulnerable to decryption by an intercepting communication device thateither intercepts the session key or that decrypts the data byapplication of brute force. Therefore, a need exists for a method andapparatus that makes an air interface more secure against decryption byan undesired interceptor of a communication in a wireless communicationsystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an architecture of the communication systemof FIG. 1 in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an operation of a transmitside of the communication system of FIG. 2 in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a code word generator of the transmit sideof FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an operation of the codeword generator of the transmit side of FIG. 2 in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a phase shifter of the transmit side ofFIG. 2 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an operation of the phaseshifter of the transmit side of FIG. 2 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a logic flow diagram illustrating an operation of a receiveside of the communication system of FIG. 2 in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To address the need for a method and apparatus that makes an airinterface more secure against decryption by an undesired interceptor ofa communication in a wireless communication system, a communicationdevice is provided that converts a bit stream to multiple symbols andprovides encryption at a physical layer by shifting a phase of eachsymbol of the multiple symbols to produce multiple encrypted symbols.Each encrypted symbol of the multiple encrypted symbols is modulatedwith an orthogonal subcarrier to produce at least one modulatedsubcarrier and the at least one modulated subcarrier is then transmittedvia a wireless link. On a receive side, a receiving communication devicereceives the transmitted, encrypted symbols and provides decryption at aphysical layer by shifting a phase of each encrypted symbol incorrespondence with the phase used to encrypt the symbol at the transmitside.

Generally, an embodiment of the present invention encompasses a methodfor encrypting a wireless transmission. The method includes receivingmultiple symbols, shifting a phase of each symbol of the multiplesymbols to produce multiple phase shifted symbols, modulating each phaseshifted symbol of the multiple phase shifted symbols with an orthogonalsubcarrier to produce at least one modulated subcarrier, andtransmitting the at least one modulated subcarrier via a wireless link.

Another embodiment of the present invention encompasses a method forreceiving an encrypted wireless transmission. The method includesreceiving at least one modulated subcarrier via a wireless link,demodulating the at least one modulated subcarrier to produce aplurality of encrypted symbols, and applying a phase shift to eachencrypted symbol of the plurality of encrypted symbols to produce aplurality of decrypted symbols.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses acommunication device having a signal processing unit coupled to atransmitter section. The signal processing unit comprises a phaseshifter that receives multiple symbols and applies a phase shift to eachsymbol of the multiple symbols to produce multiple phase shiftedsymbols. The signal processing unit further comprises an orthogonalmodulator that receives the multiple phase shifted symbols and modulateseach phase shifted symbol of the multiple phase shifted symbols with anorthogonal subcarrier to produce at least one modulated subcarrier. Thetransmitter section transmits the at least one modulated subcarrier viaa wireless link.

Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses acommunication device having a signal processing unit that includes anorthogonal modulator and that is coupled to a transmitter section. Theorthogonal modulator comprises a serial-to-parallel converter thatassigns each symbol of the multiple symbols to a frequency sub-band ofmultiple frequency sub-bands to produce multiple assigned symbols and aphase shifter module that produces multiple phase shifted symbols,wherein the phase shifter module comprises multiple phase shifters andwherein each phase shifter of the multiple phase shifters receives anassigned symbol of the multiple assigned symbols and shifts a phase ofthe assigned symbol to produce a phase shifted symbol. The orthogonalmodulator further comprises a transformer that transforms each phaseshifted symbol of the multiple phase shifted symbols to a time domainsubcarrier associated with the symbol's frequency sub-band to producemultiple modulated time domain subcarriers, wherein the multiplemodulated subcarriers are in a parallel form, and a parallel-to-serialconverter that converts the multiple modulated subcarriers from aparallel form to a serial form to produce an output signal. Thetransmitter section transmits the multiple phase shifted symbols via awireless link.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention encompasses acommunication device comprising a receiver section coupled to a signalprocessing unit. The receiver section receives a modulated carrier via awireless link and downconverts the modulated carrier to produce adownconverted signal. The signal processing unit includes an orthogonaldemodulator that receives the downconverted signal and demodulates thedownconverted signal to produce a stream of encrypted symbols and aphase shifter that receives the stream of encrypted symbols and appliesa phase shift to each symbol of the stream of encrypted symbols toproduce a plurality of decrypted symbols.

Still another embodiment of the present invention encompasses acommunication device comprising a receiver section coupled to a signalprocessing unit. The receiver section receives a modulated carrier via awireless link and downconverts the modulated carrier to produce adownconverted signal. The signal processing unit includes an orthogonalmodulator that comprises a serial-to-parallel converter that assigns thedownconverted signal to multiple time domain subcarriers and an inversetransformer that transforms each time domain subcarrier of the multipletime domain subcarriers to a frequency domain subcarrier to producemultiple encrypted symbols, wherein the multiple encrypted symbols arein a parallel form. The signal processing unit further includes a phaseshifter module that produces multiple decrypted symbols, wherein thephase shifter module comprises multiple phase shifters and wherein eachphase shifter of the multiple phase shifters receives an encryptedsymbol of the multiple encrypted symbols and shifts a phase of theencrypted symbol to produce a decrypted symbol, and a parallel-to-serialconverter that converts the multiple decrypted symbols from a parallelform to a serial form to produce a stream of decrypted symbols.

The present invention may be more fully described with reference toFIGS. 1-8. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication system100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Communications system 100 includes a base transceiver station (BTS) 102that is capable of engaging in wireless communications with a mobilestation (MS) 110, such as a cellular telephone, radiotelephone, orwireless data modem, via an air interface 104. Air interface 104includes a forward link 108 that comprises traffic, pilot, paging, andsignaling channels. Air interface 104 further includes a reverse link106 that comprises traffic, access, and signaling channels.

Preferably, communication system 100 is an Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM) communication system. OFDM is a wideband modulationscheme that divides a frequency bandwidth allocated for a communicationsession into multiple narrower frequency sub-bands. Each sub-bandincludes a radio frequency (RF) subcarrier, wherein each subcarrier ismathematically orthogonal to the RF subcarrier included in each of theother subchannels. The orthogonality of the subcarriers allows theirindividual spectra to overlap without causing interference with theother carriers. However, those who are of ordinary skill in the artrealize that communication system 100 may operate in accordance with anywireless telecommunication system that uses an orthogonal modulationscheme for modulation of information onto a carrier and subsequenttransmission of the modulated signal, such as a Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) communication system, a CDMA 2000 communication system, aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) communication system, or a WidebandCDMA (WCDMA) communication system. In CDMA, the subcarriers are not ofdifferent frequency but of different code domain. They are called Walshcodes in IS2000, and in UMTS they are called Orthogonal Vector SpreadingFactors (OVSF).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an architecture of communication system 100in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. On a transmitside of communications system 100, a transmitting communication device202, such as BTS 102, receives a bit stream, converts the bit stream toa corresponding symbol stream, provides encryption at a physical layerby encrypting the symbol stream to produce an encrypted symbol stream,and transmits the encrypted symbol stream via an air interface, such asair interface 104. On a receive side of communications system 100, areceiving communication device 250, such as MS 110, receives thetransmitted, encrypted symbol stream and provides decryption at aphysical layer by decrypting the received symbols to recover the bits ofthe transmitted bit stream corresponding to each received data symbol.However, those who are of ordinary skill in the art realize that BTS 102and MS 110 are each capable of operating as either a transmittingcommunication device or a receiving communication device with respect tothe embodiments of the present invention.

Each of transmitting communication device 202 and receivingcommunication device 250 includes a respective signal processing unit204, 270, such as one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digitalsignal processors (DSPs), combinations thereof or such other devicesknown to those having ordinary skill in the art. Each of transmittingcommunication device 202 and receiving communication device 250 furtherincludes a respective at least one memory device 240, 290 associatedwith the respective signal processing unit, such as random access memory(RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and/or read only memory(ROM) or equivalents thereof, that maintains data and programs that maybe executed by the signal processing unit and that allow the signalprocessing unit to operate in communication system 100. Each oftransmitting communication device 202 and receiving communication device250 further maintains in their respective at least one memory device240, 290 a session key that is exchanged by the transmitting andreceiving communication devices during a set up of a communicationsession between the two devices as is know in the art. Each oftransmitting communication device 202 and receiving communication device250 may further maintain, in their respective at least one memory device240, 290, a mobile serial number that is uniquely associated with MS110. As those who are of ordinary skill in the art are aware, thevarious functions of signal processing units 204, 270 as describedherein may alternatively be implemented in hardware circuitry, such as aprogrammable logic array (PLA) or an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a logic flow diagram 300 is depicted thatillustrates an operation of transmit side 202 in communication system100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Logicflow 300 begins (302) when a data source (not shown) provides input datain a binary format, such as bits, to an encoder 206. Encoder 206 encodes(304) the bit stream by applying an error correcting code, such as aforward error correction code (FEC), to the data. For example, encoder206 may encode the data by use of a convolutional code such as a Viterbicoding algorithm, however, a block code may be used. Convolutional codesand block codes are well known in the art and will not be described ingreater detail. The type of error correcting code used is not criticalto the invention and those of ordinary skill in the art are aware ofmany types of error correction codes that may be applied to the datawithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.Regardless, the output of encoder 206 includes information preferablyrepresented in a binary data (bits) format. A bit stream output byencoder 206 is then provided to a symbol mapper 208.

In another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the input dataincludes multiple data-types, such as user data, pilot data, andsynchronization data, only the user data is encoded and the one or moreother data-types, that is, the pilot data and the synchronization data,is not encoded. In such an embodiment, symbol mapper 208 may comprisemultiple symbol mappers, wherein the user data is encoded before beingprovided to a first symbol mapper of the multiple symbol mappers and theother data-types are each directly conveyed to a respective other symbolmapper of the multiple symbol mappers.

Symbol mapper 208, or each of the multiple symbol mappers when symbolmapper 208 comprises multiple symbol mappers, groups the bit streamreceived by the symbol mapper into groups of P bits (P-tuples) and maps(306) each P-tuple to a corresponding symbol to produce a symbol stream.To this end, a signal constellation that includes M possible symbols isdefined within a multi-dimensional space, preferably a complextwo-dimensional (I,Q) space. Each symbol comprises a point within thetwo-dimensional space, which point may be represented as a vector sum oftwo scaled basis vectors ‘I’ and ‘Q’. The respective amplitudes of thetwo basis vectors used to define a particular point may be thought of astwo-dimensional coordinates of the point. In order to achieve thedesired mapping, symbol mapper 208 assembles the binary values (bits)output by encoder 204 into a P-tuple. Each P-tuple is then used toselect a symbol out of the M possible symbols, wherein M=2^(P). In oneembodiment, a MPSK modulation scheme, such as BPSK or QPSK, is appliedto each P-tuple; however those who are of ordinary skill in the artrealize that there are many types of multi-dimensional symbol mappingschemes, such as other MPSK schemes or a multiple quadrature amplitudemodulation (MQAM) scheme, that may be used without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

Communication system 200 may further include an interleaving block ontransmit side 202 that interleaves the symbols produced by the symbolmapper 208 in order to minimize the error producing impact of a burstychannel. In one embodiment of the present invention, block interleavingmay be used wherein the symbol stream is read into the rows of atwo-dimensional matrix and read out column-wise, resulting in theseparation of any two adjacent symbols in the symbol stream. When thetransmitted symbols are received and deinterleaved by the inverseinterleaving block, any error bursts introduced by the channel arebroken up, reducing the impact of the error and augmenting the abilityof the forward error correction code to correct such errors.

Symbol mapper 208 conveys the symbol stream to a phase shifter 210.Phase shifter 210 then encrypts (308) each symbol received by the phaseshifter by shifting a phase of the symbol to produce an encrypted, phaseshifted symbol. Signal processing unit 204 determines the phase shiftbased on a code word ‘θ’ output by a code word generator 212 coupled tophase shifter 210. Preferably, the code word is derived from one or moreof the session key exchanged by transmit side 202 and receive side 250when the communication session is set up and the mobile serial numberthat is uniquely associated with MS 110.

When the communication session between transmitting communication device202 and receiving communication device 250 is set up, signal processingunits 204 initializes code word generator 212 by inputting the sessionkey, typically a string of bits, or a string of bits derived from thesession key, and/or the mobile serial number, or a string of bitsderived from the mobile serial number, into code word generator 212. Incorrespondence with each symbol input into amplitude and phase adjuster210, amplitude and phase adjuster 210 reads bits of the output of codeword generator 212. Signal processing unit 204 then determines a phaseshift based on the read bits.

As is known in the art, data is transmitted over the air in groupingsknown as frames. After the communication session is set up, each timetransmit side 202 starts a new frame, signal processing unit 204re-initializes code word generator 212 so that the first, in time,symbols encrypted for embedding in the new frame are encrypted based onthe re-initialized code word generator 212. The header of the new frameincludes a New Frame Indicator (NFI), indicating that this is a newframe, and the NFI indicates to receiving communication device 250 thatthe receiving communication device should re-initialize its code wordgenerator as well. Thus synchronization is maintained between the codeword generators of transmit side 202 and receive side 250.

Phase shifter 210 conveys the stream of encrypted, phase shifted symbolsto an orthogonal modulator 214. When symbol mapper 208 comprisesmultiple symbol mappers that each maps a data-type of multipledata-types to a constellation of symbols, only the symbol mapper thatproduces a symbol stream based on user data conveys the produced symbolstream to phase shifter 210. Phase shifter 210 then shifts a phase ofeach symbol associated with user data to produce a stream of encrypted,that is, phase shifted, symbols that is conveyed to orthogonal modulator214. Each of the other symbol mappers, which produces a symbol streambased associated with non-user data, bypasses phase shifter 210 andconveys the non-encrypted, that is, non-shifted, symbol stream directlyto orthogonal modulator 214.

Orthogonal Modulator 214 modulates each symbol received by theorthogonal modulator with an orthogonal subcarrier, such as one ofmultiple frequency sub-bands in an OFDM communication system or anorthogonal code or OVSF in a CDMA communication system. In oneembodiment of the present invention, an OFDM embodiment, orthogonalmodulator 214 comprises a serial-to-parallel (S/P) converter 216 coupledto a transformer 218, which transformer is further coupled to aparallel-to-serial (P/S) converter 220. In response to receiving eachsymbol, orthogonal modulator 214 routes the received symbol to S/Pconverter 216. S/P converter 216 assigns (310) each symbol to one ofmultiple (‘N’) orthogonal subcarriers, that is, frequency sub-bands, ineffect converting the symbol stream received from phase shifter 210 froma serial to a parallel form and producing N parallel symbols, wherein Nis the number of subcarriers contained in a frequency bandwidthallocated for a communication session. S/P converter 216 then appliesthe N parallel symbols to transformer 218. When the symbols received byorthogonal modulator 214 are associated with multiple data types, suchas user data, pilot data, and synchronization data, S/P converter 216assigns each symbol associated with a same data-type to an orthogonalsubcarrier from a same set of one or more orthogonal subcarriers. Thatis, the symbols associated with user data may be assigned to one or moreorthogonal subcarriers from a first set orthogonal subcarriers, thesymbols associated with pilot data may be assigned to one or moreorthogonal subcarriers from a second set of orthogonal subcarriers, andthe symbols associated with synchronization data may be assigned to oneor more orthogonal subcarriers from a third set of orthogonalsubcarriers.

Transformer 218 transforms (312) each symbol of the N parallel symbols,which symbol is assigned to a frequency sub-band, that is, a frequencydomain subcarrier, to a time domain signal, that is, a time domainsubcarrier, thereby producing multiple (N) modulated orthogonal timedomain subcarriers, wherein each subcarrier corresponds to a sub-bandincluded in the frequency band. The multiple orthogonal frequencysub-bands f_(n)(t), n=0, 1, . . . , N−1 can be thought of as sinusoidsor complex exponentials of the form e^(j2Π(W/N)nt) for tε[0, T_(total)]where W is the available frequency bandwidth and W/N expresses thefrequency spacing between subcarriers.

As known in OFDM systems, the functionality of transformer 218 may beimplemented with an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT), oralternatively with an inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT). The Nparallel symbols are provided as input to the IFFT and the IFFT outputsN parallel time domain subcarriers of frequency f_(n), wherein eachsubcarrier of the N parallel subcarriers is modulated by a correspondinginput symbol of the N parallel input symbols. The modulated time domainsubcarriers constituting the IFFT output are then conveyed to P/Sconverter 220.

In another embodiment of the present invention, phase shifter 210 maycomprise a phase shifter module that is interposed between S/P converter216 and transformer 218 instead of preceding the S/P converter. In suchan embodiment, phase shifter 210 may comprise multiple phase shifters,PS₁-PS_(N), wherein each phase shifter of the multiple phase shifters isassociated with, and receives from S/P converter 216, a symbol of themultiple (‘N’) parallel symbols output by the S/P converter. Each phaseshifter of the multiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N) is further associatedwith a corresponding one of the multiple (‘N’) frequency sub-bands. Inconjunction with each set of ‘N’ parallel symbols received by themultiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N), each such phase shifter receives acode word θ produced by code word generator 212 that is different fromthe code word provided to the other phase shifters of the multiple phaseshifters PS₁-PS_(N). In response to receiving a symbol and a code word,each phase shifter of the multiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N) encryptsthe symbol by shifting a phase of the symbol, which phase shift is basedon the code word, to produce an encrypted, phase shifted symbol. Eachphase shifter PS₁-PS_(N) then applies the phase shifted symbol totransformer 218 for transformation from a corresponding frequencysub-band, that is, a frequency domain subcarrier, to a correspondingtime domain signal, that is, a time domain subcarrier.

In the embodiment of the present invention wherein symbol mapper 208comprises multiple symbol mappers that each maps a different data-typeto a constellation of symbols, only the assigned symbols output by S/Pconverter 216 that are associated with user data are conveyed to one ofthe multiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N). The other assigned symbolsbypass phase shifter 210 and are conveyed by S/P converter 216 directlyto transformer 218. Each phase shifter of multiple phase shiftersPS₁-PS_(N) receives an assigned symbol associated with the user data andshifts a phase of the symbol to produce a phase shifted symbol that isconveyed to transformer 218. Transformer 218 then transforms each phaseshifted symbol received from a phase shifter PS₁-PS_(N) from acorresponding frequency sub-band, that is, a frequency domainsubcarrier, to a corresponding time domain signal, that is, a timedomain subcarrier, to produce a modulated time domain subcarrierassociated with the user data. Transformer 218 further transforms eachnon-phase shifted symbol received directly from S/P converter 216 from acorresponding frequency sub-band, that is, a frequency domainsubcarrier, to a corresponding time domain signal, that is, a timedomain subcarrier, to produce a modulated time domain subcarrierassociated with the non-user data. The modulated time domain subcarriersresulting from the transformation of the multiple phase shifted andnon-phase shifted symbols are then conveyed to P/S converter 220.

P/S converter 220, preferably a multiplexer, converts (314) the timedomain subcarriers received from transformer 218 from a parallel form toa serial form to produce a first output signal. P/S converter 220conveys the first output signal to a cyclic prefix (C/P) adder 222 thatappends (318) a guard band interval, or cyclic prefix, to the firstoutput signal to produce a second output signal. Typically, theappending of a cyclic prefix comprises an appending of the last T_(g)seconds of each OFDM symbol as a prefix to itself. Preferably T_(g) is apreassigned length of 16 taps, or 0.8 μs; however, those of ordinaryskill in the art realize that the preassigned length of the cyclicprefix is up to the designer of the system as the designer weighs thegreater protection afforded by a longer cyclic prefix against theinefficiency of a longer prefix. C/P adder 222 conveys the second outputsignal to a transmitter section 230 of transmit side 202 that is coupledto signal processing unit 204. Transmitter section 230 includes amodulator 232 coupled to an amplifier 234. Transmitter section 230routes the second output signal to modulator 232. Modulator 232upconverts (320) the second output signal from a baseband frequency to atransmit frequency to produce an upconverted signal. The upconvertedsignal is conveyed to power amplifier (PA) 234 that amplifies (322) thesignal to produce an amplified signal and transmits (324) the amplifiedsignal via an antenna 236 and air interface 104. Logic flow 300 thenends (326).

In another embodiment of the present invention, a CDMA embodiment,orthogonal modulator 214 may comprise at least one spreader instead ofan S/P converter, transformer, and P/S converter. In such an embodiment,the at least one spreader spreads (316) the phase shifted symbolreceived from phase shifter 210 by an orthogonal spreading code, thatis, a CDMA subcarrier, to produce the first output signal, that is, astream of modulated, that is, spread, symbols. For example, orthogonalmodulator 214 may comprise multiple serial spreaders, wherein onespreader of the multiple spreaders spreads each symbol with a long codeand another spreader of the multiple spreaders spreads the symbol with aWalsh code or an OVSF. When the symbols conveyed to orthogonal modulator214 comprises symbols associated with multiple data-types, theorthogonal modulator spreads each received symbol by an orthogonalspreading code assigned to the corresponding data-type to produce amodulated subcarrier. The spread symbols are then conveyed totransmitter section 230. That is, the symbols associated with user datamay be spread by a first one or more orthogonal subcarriers, that is,spreading codes, the symbols associated with pilot data may be spread bya second one or more orthogonal subcarriers, and the symbols associatedwith synchronization data may be spread by a third one or moreorthogonal subcarriers. In the CDMA embodiment, signal processing unit204 may or may not include C/P adder 222 interposed between orthogonalmodulator 214 and transmitter section 230, which C/P adder may add aprefix to the stream of spread symbols output by the orthogonalmodulator.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, an operation of code word generator 212is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of code word generator 212 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is alogic flow diagram 500 illustrating a method by which code wordgenerator 212 generates the code word ‘θ’ used by phase shifter 210 toshift a phase of the symbol received by the phase shifter in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

Logic flow diagram 500 begins (502) when a circular buffer 414 of codeword generator 212 is loaded (504) with a bit sequence that is used toproduce the code word ‘θ.’Circular buffer 514 is initially loaded whenthe communication session is set up and is reloaded each timetransmitting communication device 202 starts a new frame. That is, as isknown in the art, data is transmitted in frames. Each time a new frameis assembled by signal processing unit 204, the signal processing unitre-initializes circular buffer 414 so that the first, in time, symbolsencrypted for embedding in the new frame are encrypted based on there-initialized circular buffer. The header of the new frame includes aNew Frame Indicator (NFI), indicating that this is a new frame, and theNFI indicates to receiving communication device 250 that the receivingcommunication device should re-initialize its circular buffer as well.Thus synchronization is maintained between the code word generators ofthe transmitting and receiving communication devices 202, 250.

Preferably, circular buffer 414 is loaded with a bit sequence asfollows. Signal processing unit 204 provides, and combiner 410 receivesa first encryption key 402. Preferably first encryption key 402 is adynamic, 16 bit key that is valid only for the duration of the call orfor a single packet burst, such as a 16 bit key that is derived from asession key exchanged by transmitting communication device 202 andreceiving communication device 250 during set up of the communicationsession and maintained in the at least one memory device 240. In oneembodiment of the present invention, first encryption key 402 may beconveyed to combiner 410 via a mixer 406, where the first encryption keyis spread by a first spreading code 404 that is maintained in each ofthe at least one memory devices 240, 290 of each of transmittingcommunication device 202 and receiving communication device 250. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, first encryption key 402may be conveyed directly to combiner 410.

Signal processing unit 204 further provides, and combiner 410 receives,a second encryption key 408. Preferably second encryption key 408 is astatic, 48 bit key that is unique to MS 110, such as a mobile serialnumber, for example an Electronic Serial Number (ESN), uniquelyassociated with the MS and is maintained in the at least one memorydevice 240 of transmitting communication device 202.

Combiner 410 combines the received first encryption key 402 and thereceived second encryption key 408 to produce a first code word 412 forinput into circular buffer 414. Preferably code word 412 is 64 bitslong, wherein the 16 most significant bits are derived from firstencryption key 402 and the remaining 48 bits are derived from secondencryption key 408. However, one of ordinary skill in the art realizesthe algorithm used to combine first encryption key 402 and secondencryption key 408 is not critical to the present invention and that anyof a variety of algorithms may be used by combiner 410 to combine thefirst encryption key and the second encryption key without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention. Combiner 410 mayfurther comprise a concatenation function that concatenates one or moreof first encryption key 402, second encryption key 408, or thecombination of the first encryption key and the second encryption key,in order to produce a code word of a desired length, that is, a lengthappropriate for circular buffer 414. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, code word 412 may be derived from only one of firstencryption key 402 or second encryption key 404, which key may beprovided directly to circular buffer 414 or may be provided to thecircular buffer via one or more of a concatenation function and aspreader, or multiplier.

Circular buffer 414 converts first code word 412 to circular serialdata. Preferably, circular buffer 414 is a shift left register, with themost significant bit (MSB) serialized first and the least significantbit (LSB) serialized last. Each time an MSB is read out of buffer 414,the buffer is sifted one position to the left and the MSB is loaded backinto the buffer as a LSB. As a result, when the code word stored in thebuffer reaches the LSB of the initially stored code word, the sequencewill continue again with the MSB of the initially stored code word.

A serial sequence is then read out (506) of circular buffer 414 and isrouted to a code word expander 416 coupled to the buffer. Code wordexpander 416 expands (508) the serial sequence read out of circularbuffer 414 to create a second, longer code word 418 of 128 bits from the64 bit code word stored in circular buffer 414. Preferably, code wordexpander 416 is a one-half (½) convolutional encoder that is known inthe art and is defined in Section 8.2.1.2.1.3 of the IEEE 802.16standard. A one-half convolutional encoder adds redundancy to the serialsequence read out of buffer 414 to produce second code word 418 of 128bits from a 64 bit code word stored in circular buffer 414.

Code word expander 416 conveys second code word 418 to an Exclusive OR(XOR) gate 422. However, in another embodiment of the present invention,when the serial sequence read out of buffer 414 may be of a size thatdoes not require expansion, code word generator may not include codeword expander 416. In such an embodiment, the serial sequence read outof circular buffer 414 may be routed directly to Exclusive OR (XOR) gate422. In addition to receiving code word 418, XOR gate 422 furtherreceives a random or pseudo-noise (PN) sequence 420. XOR gate 420 XOR's(510) code word 418 with sequence 420 produce a third code word 424. ByXOR'ing code word 418 with sequence 420, the code word ‘θ’ provided bycode word generator 212 to phase shifter 210 is further randomized,thereby making the phase shift introduced by the phase shifter evenharder to detect. Preferably sequence 420 is a pilot sequence that isused to spread a pilot signal, such as a pilot sequence defined bySection 8.3.3.4.2 or Section 8.4.9.4.1 of the IEEE 802.16 standard. Suchpilot sequences typically comprise the properties of a good randomsequence. However, one of ordinary skill in the art realizes that anyrandom or PN sequence may be used here.

XOR gate 422 conveys third code word 424 to a serial-to-parallel (S/P)buffer 426 that buffers (512) the code word. Signal processing unit 204then reads (514) the code word out of S/P buffer 426 and routes the readcode word 430 to a multiplier 434. In conjunction with each reading ofthe code word out of buffer 426, the multiplier further receives asubcarrier index 432 of multiple subcarrier indices, wherein eachsubcarrier index of the multiple subcarrier indices corresponds to asubcarrier of the multiple (‘N’) subcarriers. Multiplier 434 thenmultiplies (516) each code word 430 read out of buffer 426 by asubcarrier index 432 to produce a code word 436 that is associated witha subcarrier of the multiple (‘N’) subcarriers. By multiplying each codeword received by multiplier 434 by a different subcarrier index value,which subcarrier index value is associated with a subcarrier assigned tothe symbol that will be phase shifted based on the code word, code wordgenerator 212 is able to introduce a phase shift to each symbol of the‘N’ parallel symbols that is different from the phase shift introducedto the other symbols of the ‘N’ parallel symbols. This further increasesthe difficulty for an intercepting communication device to decrypt theencrypted symbols.

For example, when phase shifter 210 comprises a phase shifter modulethat is interposed between S/P converter 216 and transformer 218,multiplier 434 may multiply a first code word output by S/P buffer 426by a first subcarrier index 432. The resulting codeword is then conveyedto a first phase shifter PS₁ of the multiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N).Multiplier 434 may then multiply the same code word, again output by S/Pbuffer 426, by a second subcarrier index 432 and convey the resultingcodeword to a second phase shifter PS₂ (not shown) of the multiple phaseshifters PS₁-PS_(N), and so on. Thus each code word conveyed to eachphase shifter PS₁-PS_(N) is different than the code words conveyed tothe other phase shifters. However, in another embodiment of the presentinvention and in order to reduce the complexity of code word generator212, multiplier 434 may not be included in the code word generator andthe code words 430 read out of buffer 426 may not be multiplied bycorresponding subcarrier index values.

Multiplier 434 then conveys each code word 436 to truncation function438. Truncation function 438 truncates (518) each code word 436 toproduce a truncated code word, which truncated code word is the codeword ‘θ’ provided to phase shifter 210. The length of code word ‘θ’ isup to a designer of communication system 100 and should be a lengthappropriate for a level of granularity desired by the designer ofcommunication system 100 for the phase shift introduced by phase shifter210. Preferably, code word ‘θ’ is eight (8) bits; however one ofordinary skill in the art realizes that ‘θ’ may be any length. Inanother embodiment of the present invention, a length of each code word430 read out of S/P buffer 426, or produced by multiplier 434, may be ofa length appropriate for code word ‘θ.’ In such an embodiment, code wordgenerator 212 may not include truncation function 438 as the code wordmay not need to be truncated to produce code word ‘θ.’ Logic flowdiagram 500 then ends (520).

Phase shifter 210 then uses the code word ‘θ’ to apply a phase shift tothe symbol received by the phase shifter from symbol mapper 208.Referring now to FIGS. 6 and 7, an operation of a phase shifter 600,such as phase shifter 210, or when phase shifter 210 comprises multiplephase shifters PS₁-PS_(N), each phase shifter of the multiple phaseshifters PS₁-PS_(N), is illustrated in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of phase shifter 600 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is alogic flow diagram 700 illustrating a method executed by phase shifter600 to implement a phase shift in the symbol received by the phaseshifter in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Logic flow diagram 700 begins (702) when phase shifter 600 receives(704) a code word ‘θ’ from code word generator 212. Phase shifter 600routes the received code word to a sine and cosine function generator602. Based on the received code word, sine and cosine function generator602 generates (706) a first value corresponding to a sine function ‘sinα’ and a second value corresponding to a cosine function ‘cos α,’wherein ‘α’ is an angle corresponding to the code word ‘θ’ received fromcode word generator 212. For example, when ‘θ’ is an ‘n’ bit code word,then α=C×(360°/2^(n)), wherein C corresponds to the value represented bythe code word ‘θ.’For example, suppose ‘θ’ is an eight (8) bit codeword. Further, suppose that the code word ‘θ’ sourced by code wordgenerator 212 to phase shifter 210 is ‘10001001.’ This code wordcorresponds to a value of 137, and α is then equal to ‘137×(360°/256),’or approximately 192°. Sine and cosine function generator 602 thengenerates a first value corresponding to a sine of 192° and generates asecond value corresponding to a cosine of 192°. Preferably, sine andcosine function generator 602 generates the values corresponding to ‘sinα’ and ‘cos α’ by reference to a lookup table maintained by at least onememory device 240. Sine and cosine function generator 602 then routesthe first and second values, that is, ‘sin α’ and ‘cos α,’ to aquadrature encryptor 604.

Quadrature encryptor 604 receives the first and second values, that is,‘sin α’ and ‘cos α,’ from sine and cosine function generator 602.Quadrature encryptor 604 further receives (708) a symbol (I_(in),Q_(in))produced by symbol mapper 208. Quadrature encryptor 604 then shifts(710) a phase of the symbol based on the ‘sin α’ and ‘cos α’ receivedfrom sine and cosine function generator 602 to produce an encrypted,phase shifted symbol (I_(out),Q_(out)). More particularly, quadratureencryptor 604 produces phase shifted symbol (I_(out),Q_(out)) byexecuting the following formulas maintained in at least one memorydevice 240:I _(out)=(I _(in)×cos α)−(Q _(in)×sin α), andQ _(out)=(I _(in)×sin α)+(Q _(in)×cos α).The phase shifted symbol (I_(out),Q_(out)) is then conveyed by phaseshifter 600 to an orthogonal modulator, such as orthogonal modulator214, or to a transformer, such as transformer 218, whichever isappropriate, and logic flow diagram 700 then ends (712).

The receive side 250 of communication system 100 implements the reversefunctions with respect to the transmit side 202. Referring now to FIG.8, a logic flow diagram 800 is depicted that illustrates an operation ofreceive side 250 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. Logic flow 800 begins (802) when a signal received via anantenna 252 is routed to a receiver section 260, where a low noiseamplifier (LNA) 262 amplifies (804) the received signal. LNA 262 thenroutes the amplified signal to a demodulator 264 that downconverts (806)the amplified signal from a transmit frequency to a baseband frequency.The baseband signal is then conveyed to the receive side signalprocessing unit 270.

Signal processing unit 270 routes the baseband signal to a cyclic prefix(C/P) remover 272 that removes (808) a cyclic prefix that had beenappended to the signal. C/P remover 272 conveys the cyclic prefix-lesssignal to orthogonal demodulator 274. When the corresponding transmitside 202 does not include a C/P adder, then signal processing unit 270may route the baseband signal directly to orthogonal demodulator 274.Orthogonal demodulator 274 performs an inverse function to the functionperformed by orthogonal modulator 214. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, an OFDM embodiment, orthogonal demodulator 274 comprises anS/P converter 276 coupled to an inverse transformer 278, which inversetransformer is further coupled to a P/S converter 280. In such anembodiment, orthogonal demodulator 274 routes the cyclic prefix-lesssignal to S/P converter 276. S/P converter 276 converts (810) thedownconverted, prefix-less signal from a serial to a parallel form,outputting N parallel modulated subcarriers. The N parallel modulatedsubcarriers are conveyed to inverse transformer 278, such as a discreteFourier Transform (DFT) or a fast Fourier Transform (FFT), thattransforms (812) each subcarrier of the N parallel modulated subcarriersfrom a time domain to a frequency domain based upon a correspondingorthogonal function of the N orthogonal functions used in transformer218. That is, inverse transformer 278 transforms each encrypted symbolto a frequency domain sub-band, or subcarrier, associated with thesymbol's time domain subcarrier to produce multiple encrypted symbols.The output of inverse transformer 278 includes ‘N’ parallel encryptedsymbols based on the ‘N’ modulated subcarriers, wherein each symbol ofthe ‘N’ parallel encrypted symbols is drawn from the ‘M’ possiblesymbols of the constellation used on the transmit side 202.

Transformer 278 conveys the ‘N’ parallel encrypted symbols to a P/Sconverter 280. P/S converter 280 converts (814) the ‘N’ parallelencrypted symbols from a parallel form to a serial form to produce astream of encrypted symbols and conveys the symbol stream to a phaseshifter 282. Phase shifter 282 decrypts (818) each encrypted symbol inthe symbol stream by shifting a phase of the encrypted symbol incompensation for the phase shift added to the symbol by phase shifter210, thereby producing multiple decrypted symbols. Phase shifter 282then conveys each decrypted symbol to an inverse symbol mapper 286.

In another embodiment of the present invention, wherein the transmitteddata includes multiple data-types, such as user data, pilot data, andsynchronization data, and only the user data is encrypted by a transmitside phase shifter, then only the symbols associated with the user dataare conveyed by orthogonal demodulator to phase shifter 282. Phaseshifter 282 decrypts each encrypted symbol, that is, the symbolsassociated with the user data, by shifting a phase of the encryptedsymbol in compensation for the phase shift added to the symbol by phaseshifter 210 to produce a stream of decrypted symbols that is conveyed toinverse symbol mapper 286. The symbols associated with the non-userdata-types are not encrypted by the transmit side and therefore are in anon-encrypted format, that is, comprise a stream of non-encryptedsymbols, when output by P/S converter 280. The non-encrypted symbols maythen be used for synchronization and pilot interpolation purposes,whichever is appropriate, and may be discarded without being conveyed toinverse symbol mapper 286.

Phase shifter 282 implements the phase shift of each encrypted symbolbased on a same code word as the code word used to determine a phaseshift in phase shifter 210, which code word is generated by a code wordgenerator 284 coupled to phase shifter 282. For example, in oneembodiment of the present invention, phase shifter 282 may subtract,from the phase of the symbol, a phase equivalent to the phase shiftadded to the symbol by phase shifter 210. In another embodiment of thepresent invention, phase shifter 282 may add a phase to the symbol thatwill complete a 360° rotation of the symbol around the complex plane,that is, may apply a phase shift approximately equal to ‘360°−θ’. Forexample, if phase shifter 210 applied a 192° phase shift to the symbol,then phase shifter 282 may apply a phase shift of approximately‘360°−192°,’ or 168°, to the symbol.

Code word generator 284 outputs code words that are synchronized withthe code words output by code word generator 212. When the communicationsession between transmitting communication device 202 and receivingcommunication device 270 is first set up, signal processing unit 274initializes code word generator 284 by inputting the session key, or astring of bits derived from the session key, and/or the mobile serialnumber, or a string of bits derived from the mobile serial number, intothe code word generator. After the communication session is set up, eachtime receiving communication device 270 receives a new frame, signalprocessing unit 274 re-initializes code word generator 284 so that thefirst, in time, symbols decrypted from the new frame are decrypted basedon the re-initialized code word generator.

In another embodiment of the present invention, phase shifter 282 maycomprise a phase shifter module that is interposed between inversetransformer 278 and P/S converter 280 instead of succeeding the P/Sconverter. In such an embodiment, phase shifter 282, similar to phaseshifter 210, may comprise multiple phase shifters, PS₁-PS_(N), whereineach phase shifter of the multiple phase shifters is associated with,and receives from inverse transformer 278, an encrypted symbol of themultiple (‘N’) parallel symbols output by the inverse transformer. Eachphase shifter of the multiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N) is furtherassociated with a corresponding one of the multiple (‘N’) subcarriers.In conjunction with each set of ‘N’ parallel symbols received by themultiple phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N), each phase shifter PS₁-PS_(N)receives a code word ‘θ’ produced by code word generator 284 that isdifferent from the code word provided to the other phase shiftersPS₁-PS_(N). In response to receiving a symbol and a code word, eachphase shifter PS₁-PS_(N) decrypts the symbol by shifting a phase of thesymbol based on the code word to produce a decrypted symbol. Each phaseshifter PS₁-PS_(N) then applies the decrypted symbol to P/S converter280 for conversion from a parallel form to a serial form.

When the transmitted data includes multiple data-types, such as userdata, pilot data, and synchronization data, only the encrypted symbols,that is, the symbols associated with the user data and which symbols arephase shifted by the transmit side, are conveyed by inverse transformer278 to P/S converter 280 via a corresponding phase shifter PS₁-PS_(N).The non-encrypted symbols, that is, the symbols that are associated withthe one or more other data-types, for example, the pilot data and thesynchronization data, and which symbols are not phase shifted by thetransmit side, are conveyed directly by inverse transformer 278 to P/Sconverter 280. In other words, when the transmitted data includesmultiple encrypted symbols associated with user data and multiplenon-encrypted symbols associated with non-user data, such as pilot dataor synchronization data, S/P converter 276 assigns the downconvertedsignal to multiple time domain subcarriers, wherein one or more timedomain subcarriers of the multiple time domain subcarriers areassociated with the user data and one or more time domain subcarriers ofthe multiple time domain subcarriers are associated with the pilot data.Inverse transformer 278 then transforms each time domain subcarrierassociated with user data to a frequency domain subcarrier to producemultiple encrypted symbols and further transforms each time domainsubcarrier associated with non-user data to a frequency domainsubcarrier to produce multiple non-encrypted symbols. Inversetransformer 278 then conveys the encrypted symbols to phase shiftermodule 282, and more particularly to phase shifters PS₁-PS_(N), andconveys the non-encrypted symbols to P/S converter 280. Each phaseshifter PS₁-PS_(N) decrypts a received encrypted symbol by shifting aphase of the symbol based on a code word to produce a decrypted symboland conveys the decrypted symbol to P/S converter 280. P/S converter 280then converts the decrypted symbols received from phase shifter module282 and the non-encrypted symbols received from inverse transformer 278from a parallel format to a serial format.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a CDMA embodiment,orthogonal demodulator 274 may comprise at least one despreader insteadof an S/P converter, inverse transformer, and P/S converter. In such anembodiment, the at least one despreader despreads (816) a received,encrypted symbol by applying an orthogonal spreading code, that is, aCDMA subcarrier, corresponding to the orthogonal spreading code used byorthogonal modulator 214, to demodulate the received signal and toproduce a stream of demodulated, that is, despread, encrypted symbols.For example, orthogonal demodulator 274 may comprise multiple serialdespreaders, wherein one despreader of the multiple despreadersdespreads each symbol with a long code and another despreader of themultiple despreaders spreads the symbol with a Walsh code or an OVSF.Further, in the CDMA embodiment of the present invention, signalprocessing unit 274 may or may not include C/P remover 272. In the CDMAembodiment, orthogonal demodulator 274 then conveys each despread,encrypted symbol to phase shifter 282. As described in detail above,phase shifter 282 then decrypts (818) each despread, encrypted symbol byshifting a phase of the symbol in compensation for the phase shift addedto the symbol by phase shifter 210, thereby producing multiple decryptedsymbols.

Inverse symbol mapper 286 produces a bit stream by recovering (820) theP-tuple corresponding to each decrypted symbol based on the symbolmapping scheme used by symbol mapper 208. That is, inverse symbol mapper286 maps each symbol to a corresponding point in the constellation usedby symbol mapper 208, thereby recovering the P-tuple corresponding tothat point. Inverse symbol mapper 286 then conveys the recovered bitstream to a decoder 288. Decoder 288 decodes (822) the bit stream basedon the error correction code applied by encoder 206 and conveys thedecoded bit stream to a data sink (not shown), and logic flow 800 thenends (824).

By shifting a phase of a symbol that is to be transmitted based oninformation known to the transmitting and receiving communicationdevices, communication system 100 provides encryption at a physicallayer that makes an air interface more secure against decryption by anundesired interceptor of a communication. In one embodiment of theinvention, a symbol mapper included in a transmitting communicationdevice produces multiple symbols based on a received bit stream and asymbol mapping scheme. A phase shifter included in the transmittingcommunication device then shifts a phase of each symbol based on a codeword to produce an encrypted symbol, which code word may be generated bya code word generator based on one or more encryption keys known to boththe transmitting and receiving communication devices. The encryptedsymbols are then transmitted via the air interface. In turn, thereceiving communication device decrypts received, encrypted symbols byshifting each received, encrypted symbol by a phase corresponding to thephase used to encrypt the symbol, thereby producing a decrypted symbol.An inverse symbol mapper then recovers the bits corresponding to eachdecrypted symbol based on the symbol mapping scheme used by thetransmitting device symbol mapper.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes may be made andequivalents substituted for elements thereof without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Furthermore,one of ordinary skill in the art realizes that the components andoperations of the transmitting communication device and receivingcommunication device detailed herein are not intended to be exhaustivebut are merely provided to enhance an understanding and appreciation forthe inventive principles and advantages of the present invention, ratherthan to limit in any manner the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthen a restrictive sense, and all such changes and substitutions areintended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeature or element of any or all the claims. As used herein, the terms“comprises,” “comprising,” or any variation thereof, are intended tocover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article,or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include onlythose elements but may include other elements not expressly listed orinherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore,unless otherwise indicated herein, the use of relational terms, if any,such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like are used solelyto distinguish one entity or action from another entity or actionwithout necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationshipor order between such entities or actions.

1. A method for encrypting a wireless transmission comprising: receivinga plurality of symbols, wherein the plurality of symbols comprisessymbols associated with user data and symbols associated with pilotdata; shifting a phase of each symbol of the plurality of symbols toproduce a plurality of phase shifted symbols, wherein shifting comprisesshifting a phase of each symbol that is associated with user data toproduce a plurality of phase shifted symbols and not shifting a phase ofeach symbol that is associated with pilot data to produce a plurality ofnon-shifted symbols; modulating each phase shifted symbol of theplurality of phase shifted symbols with a first orthogonal subcarrierand modulating each non-shifted symbol of the plurality of non-shiftedsymbols with a second orthogonal subcarrier to produce a plurality ofmodulated subcarriers; and transmitting the plurality of modulatedsubcarriers via a wireless link.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinmodulating comprises spreading each phase shifted symbol of theplurality of phase shifted symbols by at least one spreading code,wherein the plurality of modulated subcarriers comprises the pluralityof symbols spread by the at least one spreading code and whereintransmitting comprises upconverting the plurality of modulatedsubcarriers from a baseband frequency to a transmit frequency to producean upconverted signal, amplifying the upconverted signal to produce anamplified signal, and transmitting the amplified signal.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein receiving a plurality of symbols comprises:receiving a bit stream; and mapping the bit stream to a constellation ofsymbols to produce a plurality of symbols.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of phase shifted symbols comprises a stream ofphase shifted symbols and wherein modulating comprises: assigning eachphase shifted symbol of the plurality of phase shifted symbols to afrequency sub-band of a plurality of frequency sub-bands; andtransforming each phase shifted symbol to a time domain subcarrierassociated with the phase shifted symbol's frequency sub-band to producea plurality of modulated time domain subcarriers.
 5. The method of claim4, wherein the plurality of modulated time domain subcarriers are in aparallel form and wherein transmitting comprises: converting theplurality of modulated subcarriers from a parallel form to a serial formto produce an output signal; and transmitting the output signal via awireless link.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein shifting comprises:assigning each user data symbol a frequency sub-band of a plurality offrequency sub-bands to produce a plurality of assigned symbols; shiftinga phase of each assigned user data symbol to produce a plurality ofphase shifted user data symbols; and wherein modulating comprisestransforming each phase shifted user data symbol to a time domainsubcarrier associated with the phase shifted user data symbol'sfrequency sub-band to produce a plurality of modulated time domainsubcarriers.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality ofmodulated time domain subcarriers are in a parallel form and whereintransmitting comprises: converting the plurality of modulated timedomain subcarriers from a parallel form to a serial form to produce anoutput signal; and transmitting the output signal via a wireless link.8. The method of claim 1, wherein shifting a phase comprises shifting aphase of each user data symbol based on a code word derived from atleast one of a session key and a mobile serial number.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein shifting a phase comprises: generating a code wordbased on at least one of a session key and a mobile serial number; andfor each user data symbol, generating a sin α and a cos α, wherein α isderived from the code word; and shifting a phase of the symbol based onthe sin α and the cos α to produce a phase shifted user data symbol. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein shifting a phase comprises shifting aphase of each user data symbol based on a code word of a plurality ofcode words, and wherein the method further comprises: loading a bufferwith a bit sequence based on at least one of a session key and a mobileserial number; reading a serial sequence out of the buffer; exclusiveor'ing the serial sequence with a different sequence to produce a codeword; and multiplying the code word by each subcarrier index of aplurality of subcarrier indices to produce the plurality of code words.11. A communication device comprising: a signal processing unitcomprising: a phase shifter that receives a plurality of symbols andapplies a phase shift to each symbol of the plurality of symbols toproduce a plurality of phase shifted symbols, wherein the plurality ofsymbols comprises symbols associated with user data and symbolsassociated with pilot data and wherein shifting comprises shifting aphase of each symbol that is associated with user data to produce aplurality of phase shifted symbols and not shifting a phase of eachsymbol that is associated with pilot data to produce a plurality ofnon-shifted symbols; an orthogonal modulator that receives the pluralityof phase shifted symbols, receives the plurality of non-shifted symbolsassociated with pilot data, modulates each phase shifted symbol of theplurality of phase shifted symbols with a first orthogonal subcarrier,and modulates each non-shifted symbol of the plurality of non-shiftedsymbols with a second orthogonal subcarrier to produce a plurality ofmodulated subcarriers; and a transmitter section coupled to the signalprocessing unit that transmits the plurality of modulated subcarriersvia a wireless link.
 12. The communication device of claim 11, whereinthe orthogonal modulator comprises at least one spreader, wherein the atleast one spreader modulates each phase shifted symbol of the pluralityof phase shifted symbols by spreading the phase shifted symbol by atleast one spreading code, and wherein the plurality of modulatedsubcarriers comprises the plurality of symbols spread by the at leastone spreading code.
 13. The communication device of claim 11, whereinthe communication device further comprises a symbol mapper that receivesa bit stream, maps the bit stream to a constellation of symbols toproduce the plurality of symbols, and conveys the plurality of symbolsto the phase shifter.
 14. The communication device of claim 11, whereinthe plurality of phase shifted symbols comprises a stream of phaseshifted symbols and wherein the orthogonal modulator comprises: aserial-to-parallel converter that assigns each phase shifted symbol ofthe plurality of phase shifted symbols to a frequency sub-band of aplurality of frequency sub-bands; and a transformer that transforms eachphase shifted symbol to a time domain subcarrier associated with thesymbol's frequency sub-band to produce a plurality of modulated timedomain subcarriers, wherein the plurality of modulated subcarriers arein a parallel form; and a parallel-to-serial converter that converts theplurality of modulated subcarriers from a parallel form to a serial formto produce an output signal; and wherein the transmitter sectiontransmits the at least one modulated subcarrier by transmitting theoutput signal via the wireless link.
 15. The communication device ofclaim 11, further comprising a code word generator coupled to the phaseshifter that generates a plurality of code words based on at least oneof a session key and a mobile serial number and wherein the phaseshifter shifts a phase of each user data symbol based on a code word ofthe plurality of code words.
 16. The communication device of claim 15,wherein the code word generator comprises: a buffer that stores a bitsequence based on at least one of the session key and the mobile serialnumber; an Exclusive OR function that receives a serial sequence basedon the bit sequence stored in the buffer and exclusive OR's the serialsequence with a different sequence to produce a code word; and amultiplier that multiplies the code word by each subcarrier index of aplurality of subcarrier indices to produce a plurality of code words.17. The communication device of claim 15, wherein the phase shiftercomprises: a sine and cosine function generator that, for each symbol ofthe plurality of symbols, generates a sin α and a cos α, wherein α isderived from a code word of the plurality of code words; and aquadrature encryptor coupled to the sine and cosine function generatorthat, for each user data symbol, shifts a phase of the user data symbolbased on the sin α and the cos α generated with respect to that symbolto produce a phase shifted user data symbol.